Massive Retaliation/Arms Race (jun 29, 1949 – jan 12, 1954)

Description:

As part of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union entered an arms race, or a fight to see who could develop better weapons. The United States at first had a clear advantage because they had the atomic bomb. In 1949, however, the Soviet Union cracked the code and now also had an atomic bomb. John Dulles, the Secretary of State, then pushed for massive retaliation, a policy that called for the military’s focus to be redirected into making more nuclear weapons rather than reinforcing itself with standard weaponry. As such, the country developed the even more destructive hydrogen bomb in 1953, but a year later, the Soviets had managed to replicate it, too. It became clear that this was only further escalating and increasing the stakes of the Cold War.

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